Archive for the ‘Vania King’ Category

Matt Trollope began covering tennis in 2008, a natural extension of his childhood obsession for the game that included hitting for countless hours against his bedroom wall and self-producing and editing a fictitious tennis magazine. Based in Melbourne, he has covered four Australian Opens and one Wimbledon championship, and his tennis writing has featured in Australian Tennis Magazine, the Australian Open Official Program, and Alpha Magazine.

In this latest instalment of TSF’s WTA Headshots series, we take a look at some players who have posted solid results this past fortnight in New York. Given some of them have since been dumped from the women’s draw, they might have time to source new photographs. And remember, folks, this is just pure, unadulterated fun and fiction. We lack all seriousness in below post. Enjoy!

Sabine Lisicki | When Lisicki missed most of 2010 with a severe ankle injury, instead of lying around feeling sorry for herself, she went out and scored a role as an extra in the film Just Go With It. “I figured if Brooklyn Decker and Andy Roddick could be in it, why couldn’t I?” She explained to TSF. “I asked them to put in a good word for me, and the director said I could be involved in scenes set in Hawaii.” This photo shows that Lisicki pulled off the Pacific Island look brilliantly, and like every good extra, you don’t even notice her when you watch the film. Yet ever the ambitious young lady on court, Lisicki struggled to quash her competitive instincts in the acting arena, with an insider quoting her as saying: “Seriously, Brooklyn’s acting was such crap, as if I wouldn’t totally own that character! All she had to do was get a massage for half the movie and look pretty in front of the camera. I already do that as a professional tennis player!” After watching the film –- which copped a resounding thumbs-down from critics –- we have to agree.

Jelena Jankovic | It’s always been about the drama and the performance for Jelena. Forget the tennis –- JJ’s performances have been largely forgettable for three years anyway. Instead, Jelena’s current focus is on shoring up her post-tennis career options. We at TSF have dug up her submission –- a resume complete with a suitable headshot –- to take part in Celine Dion’s show-in-residence at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Jankovic notes parallels between herself and the Canadian diva: “My application shows that I clearly rock the wind-machine look, I’ve got my fist-pump down pat and I’m very comfortable being in the spotlight,” she says. “She’s always using back-up dancers, and with my body, I could easily fit in with them. And who cares if I can’t sing? It’s all about lip-synching these days.” Further investigation by TSF confirms that Dion’s management has yet to respond to Jankovic’s application.

Vania King | Ever watched Glee and thought the Asian-American character was an unconvincing actress, a dud singer, and generally pretty annoying? Well, it seems the WTA does, and it’s propping up one of its own as a viable replacement. Proud of the fact that King can sing, but keen to strip her of her prissy choir-girl image –- certainly not aligned with the tour’s sweat-soaked, pheromone-charged Strong Is Beautiful campaign –- CEO Stacey Allaster told TSF about the inspiration behind the push to “vote Vania” for Glee. “What better way for the WTA to position one of our players than in such a sassy, sexy and culturally-relevant program? We’re taking it up a level from Xperia Hotshots. Glee is totally where it’s at now.” So far, the Vote Vania campaign features a poster –- with Vania’s coquettish pose serving as the foundation –- but no slogan as yet.

Andrea Petkovic | Petko will continue to make her presence felt on the East Coast following her deep run at the US Open, lending her face to a tourism campaign promoting The Hamptons as an idyllic year-round escape from the frenetic pace of New York City life. This photo –- a still from the television advertisement –- shows Petkovic leaning luxuriously against the wall of a rustic timber home, her amber eyes glinting as the sun sets over the Atlantic Ocean. “Maybe your body is weary from lots of dancing,” she says dreamily in the voiceover. “Perhaps you want to disconnect from technology after tweeting, Facebooking, blogging and vlogging. You might want to rest your mind after tackling the works of Goethe and Wilde, or brushing up on your four languages. Whatever your reason, you’ll find your sanctuary in The Hamptons.” Given the German is an increasingly dominant force on the women’s tour, many of her opponents may be hoping for an escape themselves.

Springtime in London: A crop of last night’s WTAers attending the pre-Wimbledon party at The Roof Gardens stepped out in bright shades of red, pink, and orange — and everyone looked pretty darn good. Top marks go to Sabine Lisicki, Elena Vesnina, Maria Sharapova, and the tight-bunned Ana Ivanovic. We could’ve lived without the pink wrap attached to Jelena Jankovic‘s dress, but she gets brownie points for not falling to the dark side); same goes for the too-shiny fabrics on Vania King and Sania Mirza.

The Russian men might be bamboozling their opponents down in Argentina, but the women mean serious business. Dinara Safina has beaten Svetlana Kuznetsova in all their 2008 meetings, including the 2008 final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The score: 6-1, 6-3.

In doubles, Nadia Petrova teamed with Vania King to win over Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur 6-1, 6-4.

Across the Sea of Japan, Vera Zvonareva took down local Peng Shuai 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-2 at the Guangzhou Open. This is Vera’s second title, after taking Prague earlier this year.

American Vania King follows up her loud stripes from Indian Wells with this lighter floral pattern for this week’s Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. It’s possibly another dress from Lily’s of Beverly Hills.

Edit: Nope — a quick call to the LBH confirms that this is not their dress. So if anyone knows the answer…

Scoreline: Vania is through to the third round of qualifying. Good luck to her!

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Vania King wears a striped dress with that Tiffany blue/chocolate colorway that seems to be all the rage these days (my sister used it pretty well as a motif for her wedding). She played Anne Kremer in the first round of the Masters Series Indian Wells and won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

What’s the brand? Is that Prince? If so, then I take back what I said about their lackluster spring lookbook. Can anyone confirm?

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Congrats to the Sunfeast Open for being in the running for Most Innovative Trophy of 2007. Winner Maria Kirilenko received this traditional Indian painting (unveiled last week by Sania Mirza). Runner-up Mariya Koryttseva received her doorstop. The scoreline: 6-0, 6-2.

But the cabal behind all these stuffed tournament mascots needs to take a break. Don’t overdo it, people. Calcutta had the yellow sun, and Beijing had its own lime green version below…

At the China Open, Jelena Jankovic got a little karmic lecture when she lost in the finals to current hot potato Agnes Szavay (again dressed in her cute Marta Makany outfit). Szavay came from behind to defeat Jankovic 5-7(7), 7-5, 6-2.

As you may remember, Jankovic took out Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-5 in the semis and accidentally hit her with a ball. How funny that it was Lindsay who bore the brunt, since she channeled her fair share of Eeyore back in the day.

And on the other side of the world, Tatiana Golovin gets back to being match tough by winning against Katarina Srebotnik 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Slovenia. I love the orange Lacoste skirt!